First Nations of the Plains: Creative, Adaptable and Enduring

Michael Payne is head of the Research and Publications Program at the
Historic Sites and Archives Service, Alberta Community Development, and
the co-author of A Narrative History of Fort Dunvegan.

This ambitious book surveys the history and cultures of First Nations of
the North American plains from Texas to Alberta. The book’s subtitle,
“Creative, Adaptable and Enduring,” is a good summary of John
Friesen’s major findings. He argues that the real story in First
Nations history is a remarkable capacity to overcome adversity,
prejudice, and host of other problems by retaining a core set of
cultural values and beliefs. These beliefs offer guidance in adapting to
change, in finding creative solutions to problems, and in simply
enduring as distinctive peoples in an increasingly globalized world. In
Friesen’s analysis, accepting this distinctiveness and abandoning
attempts to make aboriginal people more like other North Americans is a
first and vital step in “meaningful co-existence.”

Friesen has taught courses in education and the history of First
Nations since 1968 at the University of Calgary and several colleges in
aboriginal communities. As a result, he has close contacts with First
Nations, especially in southern Alberta. This is reflected in the
contents of the book, which is aimed at a general, rather than a
specialist or scholarly, readership. The book’s strongest sections
discuss the Stoney or Nakoda people living at Morley in Alberta and
other Alberta First Nations, such as the Tsuu T’ina or Sarcee and the
members of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The history and culture of other
groups are given thumbnail sketches that provide an overview of the
enormous range and diversity of peoples who are all too often
erroneously lumped together as “Indians.” While recognizing these
differences, Friesen also suggests certain common experiences and
values, including a strong desire to resist cultural assimilation.

Unfortunately, the book contains numerous typos, and the bibliography
is missing several pages in addition to containing entries that are out
of alphabetical order. This flaw undermines the book’s value as an
introduction to the subject, since readers will have difficulty tracing
many of the author’s references. Perhaps a second edition will address
these problems.